


Eyes on You

by Morgan_and_Byleth_Enthusiast



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23305651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgan_and_Byleth_Enthusiast/pseuds/Morgan_and_Byleth_Enthusiast
Summary: A grand ball is hosted at Garreg Mach Monastery for the students to help calm their nerves. Byleth is the professor of the Blue Lions house, and does not believe the legend of the Goddess Tower is true. She hadn't planned on dancing tonight, but Claude approaches her with a request...
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 69





	Eyes on You

**•——————————————————————————————————————————•**

The grand ball was all that it had been made out to be, extravagant and enjoyable by all. Even some of the more reclusive students such as Bernadetta were present, against all odds. It seemed to be an event that all could find their own interest in, in one way or another.

Dimitri and Edelgard were the spotlight of the dance floor, each gracing the scene with their impressive skills. Their styles were remarkably similar, and though each swapped partners several times, neither came to pair up with the other, though they brushed past each other several times as they circled the floor, eyes never quite meeting through some unspoken agreement.

Truth be told, Byleth found that quite strange, as she’d assumed that the three respective heirs would have at least danced with one another out of respect- even Dimitri and Claude, as unconventional as it seemed. Wasn’t it proper manners to do so? At least, she’d thought... Though, the teacher couldn’t help but smile as she watched Dimitri twirl his partner around, knowing that she’d been right to have him represent them for the White Heron Cup, even with his excessive denial. He’d even bested Dorthea.

Ah, but a nagging thought was on her mind- where WAS Claude, speaking of? Byleth lifted her head upon feeling a quick tap on her shoulder, a hand resting on her arm. There was the leader of the Golden Deer house, smiling down at her. Despite his charming looks, his grin still did not meet his eyes- as it had yet to do, among these many months.

She longed for that day to come.

”Hey, Teach.” Claude broke through her thoughts as he tugged on her arm gently, pulling her away from the wall and towards the center of the room. “You can’t just stay on the sidelines the whole time. Care for a dance?”

Returning his smile, Byleth chuckled. “Do I have a choice?” She teased gently, as they were already amongst the other dancers. Claude didn’t respond, a knowing look on his face as he placed a hand on her waist, his other holding her hand as the two began to join the other students and teachers, moving slowly with the music as the song had just changed.

The two exchanged no words during the duration of the first song, merely enjoying the tunes of the instruments and swaying to them. Byleth remained in her own thoughts for the most part, distracted and unfocused. Her mind was on... other things for the time being. Particularly on the nagging little girl in her head who was being suspiciously quiet this night. Despite her inattention, it didn’t affect her dancing much, if at all. If there was any good thing Sothis had taught her, it was how to keep her mental state while distracted by the strange girl separate from her physical self and keep the latter functioning in public, so no one would have any suspicions. At least now, Byleth was an excellent multitasker.

Her thoughts were dragged back to reality as the song changed, a louder and more upbeat rhythm beginning to sound out throughout the room. Raising her gaze up to Claude’s face, she saw his eyes twinkling back at her attentively.

”You alright there, Teach?” He asked quietly, so that none others would overhear as they continued to dance, their pace picking up with the music. “Not a fan of dancing?”

Byleth smiled slightly. “Not usually. I am enjoying myself right now, though.”

”You probably haven’t danced much in the past, right?”

”No. I didn’t have a need to as a mercenary.”

Claude nodded slowly as he spun her around, swinging her back into his arms smoothly. “I thought so. You’re quite good at this, though. I’m impressed, you surprised even me! And that’s saying something.”

As the two stepped to the side, Dimitri and his current partner, Mercedes, passed by them. Byleth‘s eyes connected with Dimitri’s gaze, holding it for a solid second before tearing them away to focus back on Claude again. It had been too short of a moment to properly read Dimitri’s expression, but something had been... off. She didn’t have time to think about it as Claude spoke again.

”You planning on visiting the Goddess Tower tonight?”

”No.” Byleth’s response was almost immediate.

Claude’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Aw, really? You don’t believe the legend?”

”I intended to turn in early tonight,” she admitted quietly. Byleth was aware that it wouldn’t have been a popular opinion among the students and planned to sneak away from the festivities without any noticing.

A frown fell across the heir’s face. “That’s disappointing. I’d hoped to spend more time with you, Teach.”

Her heart fell as she saw the clear disappointment written across his face. “I am sorry.” Byleth’s apology was but a soft murmur, which was almost drowned out as the music swelled in volume with the song chorus.

Shrugging seemingly carelessly in response, Claude’s smile returned. “It’s alright. Everyone needs a break sometimes.”

His smile still didn’t reach his eyes.

It never did.

Claude and Byleth finished the current dance in silence, the latter breaking away from him as soon as the instruments began to die down. She felt terrible for disappointing him- though there was no reason to be so. As he said, everyone needed a break sometimes. She didn’t WANT a break, though- Byleth merely wanted to take advantage of the distraction of the ball and find out some of the truths she’d been hungering for since she’d arrived at the academy. Sothis would praise her for her investigative affairs.

As if on cue, the girl herself chimed in, her voice ringing in Byleth’s head.

”I like what you’re thinking. Now’s the perfect time!”

Holding back a sigh, Byleth shifted her way through the crowd, breaking through to the other side and passing through the exit. She didn’t look back as she did, not wanting to meet Claude’s lingering eyes.

Once out of sight of the entrance, Byleth’s walk increased into a fast stride, the sound of her footsteps echoing through the now quiet halls, the music having long faded as she maneuvered through the labyrinth of the academy’s passages. Sothis’ voice only got louder the further she went from the festivities.

”You know, I didn’t see Lady Rhea at the ball after it started. She was there to announce the beginning, but I can’t recall seeing her after. I wonder where she snuck off to...”

”I’ll look into it,” Byleth muttered under her breath as she exited the monastery building into the inner courtyard. Despite night having fallen, the grounds were lit up by the moon and the stars that twinkled among the skies. As the teacher stepped into the clearing, a voice spoke up behind her, catching her by surprise.

”Ah, Professor. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

**•——————————————————————————————————————————•**

Alone once again after Dimitri left, Byleth remained in the courtyard for a few minutes, left to her own thoughts. Sothis attempted to speak to her again, but Byleth pushed away her voice, blocking her out. She was not interested in listening to the girl’s words, even if she was perhaps an immortal being of sorts. Her attention turned instead to the tower looming in front of her- wasn’t this the Goddess Tower that Claude has mentioned before? Ah, how did the legend go... That if a couple made a vow... it would be fate for it to become true. Byleth couldn’t recall the exact words, not that it mattered. She didn’t hold much faith in such things.

But still, she had to do something. Perhaps... Lady Rhea was at the top of the tower. Maybe that was where she had gone.

Byleth stepped forwards with an air of determination, a serious expression on her face. Only one way to find out.

Surprisingly, the tower was unlocked, signaling that at least one person was atop the building. Byleth climbed the stairs steadily, not with haste, but not tarrying either. Her footsteps carried a sense of purpose, the heel of her boots thudding against the steps as she ascended the tower floors. At long last, she reached the top level, opening the old rowan door with a slow creak, the hinges rusted and unused.

Passing through the doorway, Byleth squinted up to the ceiling, which was opened to the starry night sky. A cool breeze blew through the open room, refreshing and chilling. She could feel her shoulders relaxing from tension she didn’t even know she’d been holding, breathing out slowly. She was jarred out of her calming moment as a familiar voice spoke up.

”I didn’t think you’d be coming up here, Teach. Changed your mind?”

Turning her head, Byleth caught sight of Claude leaning against the edge of a balcony on the side of the tower, that same false smile on his face. That look of his was always a secret irritation to her, always in the back of her mind, taunting her. The reason for it always plagued and eluded her, and by this time Byleth had almost accepted she’d never know the truth. Despite her attempts to speak to Claude when she was free... she was never free, and when she was, he was in his own classes or busy with his House. Valid reasons, of course, but...

Byleth had many regrets.

”I saw that the door was unlocked,” she replied as he approached, stopping in front of her, “I wanted to see who had entered. I didn’t know if someone had broken in.”

”Wellll... about that.” Claude smiled sheepishly as he held up a lock pick. “You could say that it had been broken into. I mean, come on. If they didn’t lock this place up, you know it would be flooded with couples on this night trying to make their vows.”

”Where’d you get that from?”

”Ashe, actually, believe it or not. He didn’t know what I would be using it for, don’t worry.”

Suppressing a smile of her own, Byleth lifted her head up to gaze up to the nighttime sky, spattered with the glowing stars and planets above. “The view is beautiful here.”

”I agree.” Claude crossed his arms as he followed her gaze, looking up to the sky himself to appreciate the sight. “It’s not often you get to see a night like this.”

Byleth didn’t respond right away, taking a second to relish in the peace. It was... relaxing, for once. They’d all been too caught up in battling and classes recently to truly have a real moment like this.

It was nice.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Claude who spoke next. It was Byleth herself.

”Have you ever wished you could turn back time?”

A bit surprised, Claude turned to look to her. “Turn back time? What do you mean?”

Byleth returned his stare with her own, gazing at him with a very interested intent. “Say you had the ability to turn time back, to before a specific incident that you regret or want to change, and could play it out differently. Would you?”

It took a moment for Claude to respond, but he did so with a sad chuckle. “Well, IF such a thing existed, it would probably be used for bad more often than good. Sure, you could save an ally, but it’s much more likely that you’d turn back time to secure a kill. At least, what most people would do.”

”What about decisions? If you regret choosing one thing, you could go back and pick the other.”

Byleth could almost swear she heard Sothis swearing under her breath.

”Isn’t that kind of trivial?” Claude raised an eyebrow. “It would be a waste to do that, unless it was some kind of life changing choice.”

Byleth lowered her head. “Perhaps that’s true.” It wasn’t but a quiet whisper, and she wasn’t even sure if Claude caught it.

What if she’d chosen to teach his House instead? She couldn’t help but turn her eyes to him, watching him as he looked to the sky, having returned to staring at the moon again. Ah, how would things be different... that, she could only wonder. Byleth had already beaten around the bush when it came to rewinding things to that monumental moment, but Sothis had crushed her hopes as quickly as they came, refusing to allow her to do so even if it was possible, as it likely wasn’t. It was simply too long of a time ago.

Lowering his head, Claude turned to find Byleth staring at him, catching her off guard. “Am I that interesting, Teach?” He spoke with a low voice, a bit different than usual. She didn’t find it unlikeable.

”You might be.” At a loss for words, Byleth said the first thing that came to mind. Flustered at her own response, she ducked her head, hiding the flush on her face.

”Heh. Good to know.” She couldn’t see his face, but Claude nudged her to get her attention, resting a hand on her wrist. “C’mere. You thought the view looking up was nice, come look at this.”

Byleth lifted her head, allowing Claude to lead her over to the balcony he’d been originally standing at. Her eyes widened as she inhaled a sharp little breath, taken aback by the monastery spread out below. It was absolutely glorious, as the buildings were lit up by hanging and floating torches that cast a warm glow, lighting the stones in a soft red and yellow. In addition to the cool colors of the midnight sky, it created a perfect scenery to see.

Byleth couldn’t help it as a soft sigh escaped her lips. “It’s beautiful.”

”Yes.” Claude agreed with her statement, watching her with a smile as he placed his hands on the railing, leaning against it.

It took a moment, but Byleth realized that something was different. She turned to meet his gaze, surprised to find that... unable to keep the joy from her expression, a grin crept onto her face. Claude tilted his head in a questioning manner. “What’s up? Something wrong?”

”No.” Byleth lifted her hands to put them on the railing as well, her left brushing against’s Claude’s as she did so, a chill running through her. “It’s good to see you smiling genuinely. I never thought I’d be able to see that.”

Surprisingly, Claude didn’t come back right away with a witty or laid-back remark. Instead, his smile merely took on a more saddened manner as he turned away from Byleth, looking back across the open view. “Well, it’s not something you’ll get used to.”

Regret was a painful thing.

Despite everything, Byleth found her hand touching the edge of Claude’s on the balcony railing, having shifted as he’d moved. He didn’t appear to mind or care, seemingly not knowing. She followed his actions, gazing back over the monastery’s warm glow.

As she did so, she felt Claude’s hand move, but not away. It lifted up and slid over her own hand, resting on top of hers and around it. Without looking down, Byleth moved her hand and curled her fingers around his, holding his hand in her own.

Neither of them spoke or looked at the other as they did so, leaving the rest of the conversation unspoken and unmentioned.

Some things were just not meant to be.

**•——————————————————————————————————————————•**


End file.
